Ranma in the Warring States Period!
by Chris-San
Summary: RanmaInu Yasha cross over. Hopefully I'll have time to finish it, maybe I won't. For now, enjoy, laugh, and feel free to snitch off the idea if you want!
1. Default Chapter

Different type of Ranma cross over where, instead of Kagome going to Nermia, Ranma goes to the Sangoku Jidaii, courtesy of Happosai's magic mirror. 

Notes: I know that the mirror exists, however, I have no clue how it's supposed to work. So, for the sake of the story, let's just say that you look in it, think of a time period and you're there, no questions asked.

*~*~*~*~*

Ranma was studying...well, at least he was trying to study. Miss Hinako's latest report card had told Ranma that if he didn't pick up his grades soon, he was going to be held back a year. As much as Ranma didn't care about his grades, it would be humiliating to have to repeat the year while everyone else went ahead of him. He could just picture what everyone would say if he let THAT happen. 

*~*

Mousse: Shampoo! Shampoo! I did it, I finally beat Saotome. He flunked first year high school! Isn't that great Shampoo. Shampoo?

Old Ghoul: For the last time, blind boy, I'm not Shampoo...

*

Ryoga: Oh my beautiful Akane, now that Ranma has proven himself unworthy of carrying on your family school, I would... I mean, that is, if you'll have me... I would, I could... I LOVE YOU AKANE!!! 

__

(Crunch.) 

*

Kuno: Oh Akane, Pigtailed Girl, I have bested that no good Saotome in the higher subject matters of academics. DATE WITH ME!!

*~*

Not only that, the teachers would expect him to call Akane and Ukyo 'Sempai.' Yeah right, he'd rather die than do that. Nu-un. No way, no how. He'd rather study for a couple of hours and pull his grades up than let that happen. And so, here he was, lying on his futon, history text in hand, studying. 

"... The sangoku jidai is also renowned for the amount of folklore, or demon fables, that originated from that time period. Some of the more well known fables revolved around a half-demon, or hanyou, who travelled around in a small group, seeking the shards of the fabled jewel called..."

"Ranma my boy!!" (slosh) 

"huh? WHOAH!!"

Ranma half rolled, half jumped to the side, just in time to avoid getting soaked by the unexpected shower of cold water. Still holding his history book, he turned to face the one who had launched the surprise attack, not that it was any mystery to him. 

"Old freak, whadda you want?" 

Happosai's eyes suddenly got all misty, brimming with the pathetic geezer's unshed tears.

"Ranma," sob, "Is that any way to treat your elders? And here I came to give you a present."

"If it's from you, old freak, I don't want it."

"Oh how can you say something like that." sob, "After all the trouble I went through to steal "this" for you."

At the word, "this" Happoai thrust out his wrinkled old hand, which, not surprisingly was clutched tightly around a frilly bra of some kind of another... wait a minute... that bra looked kinda familiar. He was sure he'd seen it in Akane's laundry pile at least once. Oh no. This was not good. On the one hand, if Ranma didn't some how get that thing away from Happosai, eventually he'd be the one that was wearing it. On the other hand, if Akane saw him with it, or anyone else for that matter, they'd start jumping to conclusions about why it was with him. Not good, definitely not...

"Come on Ranma, be a good pupil now and slip this on..."

"Over my dead body, perverted old freak!" 

That was the beginning of the (relatively) small scuffle which would destroy the room over the course of the next few minutes. Ranma attacked, Happosai countered but Ranma countered back. Happosai threw water at him, Ranma dodged, and so on and so forth. Somewhere in the midst of it the history text book went flying, only to be picked back up and used as a weapon. More water dodging, and then suddenly Ranma felt something get slipped around his chest. 

"See Ranma, look at how pretty that looks on you! Ack!" 

It all happened in slow motion. Ranma looked up and found a mirror had been placed before him. He saw himself, in male form, sporting Akane's bra. He also saw the deflected text book as it fluttering to the sopping ground behind him, pages flapping loudly as they turned. They stopped for a brief moment, on an old picture of a samurai in a red suite, with white hair and gold eyes. The page he had been reading... Then he realised exactly which mirror he was looking at. It was old and battered, with an ornate gold frame, and a strange magical aura around it that sent shivers up his spine. Happosai's time travelling mirror...

"Here we go. Don't worry Ranma my boy, this should fix the problem in no time!!" (Splash)

There was no one there. The water landed untouched all over the wet floor, further sopping the abandoned history text book. Happosai stood alone in the room. 

"Hmmm? Ranma? Hey Ranma? Now where could that boy have run off to?" Happosai thought about it, hard, arms crossed over his chest, foot tapping on the floor, for the total duration of one second. Then, he simply shrugged, and went to find some other unfortunate female to molest. 

*~*~*~*~*

The next thing Ranma knew, he was in the middle of a battle. 

"SANKON TETSUO!!"

"DIE USELESS HALF-BREED!!"

Ranma leapt up and out of the way, just as what looked like a giant snake's tail whipped by him, landing a solid hit on it's target. Ranma watched from the safety of a tree as the ball of red and white went flying through the air, took out several trees, and landed somewhere out of site. Ranma winced, that guy wouldn't be getting up for a while. 

"INUYASHA!!!"

For the first time Ranma turned his head and took note of the small group that was off to the side. Obviously they were on the side of the guy that was eating dirt right now, but what an odd group. There was some kind of priest, a deformed kid with pointy ears, and a regular chick in a school uniform. It was the girl who was yelling out to the man in red. She got the ugly snake thing instead.

"Hand over the Sssssshikon Ssssssards, mortalssss." The snake approached them, its intentions obvious. Ranma instantly jumped into battle. 

*~*~*~*~*

"Hand over the Sssssshikon Ssssssards, mortalssss."

Kagome turned her attention back to the youkai they were facing now. It was huge, almost twice the size of Mistress Centipede, and moved with surprising speed. Still, Kagome thought it should have been an easy kill for Inuyasha. Something wasn't right, but she didn't get a chance to think about what as the thing suddenly approached them. Miroku readied his air void, 

"Kagome-sama, get back!"

"But Miroku, what about the shards?"

Miroku stopped at the Kitsune's comment, looping the rosary back around his arm. "Shit!"

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, just what's going on here?"

Kagome looked up in surprise. There standing with his back turned to them was a boy about her age, wearing Chinese clothing and something white, with his hair in a pig-tail. Even more surprising than that, he looked like he was about to challenge the snake youkai? Was he insane? Or maybe he was a demon?

"Out of my way, mortal, hissss, or do you with to die by my sssfangsssssss."

So he was mortal, then what was he doing?

*~*~*~*~*

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, just what's going on here?"

Okay, so Ranma knew he probably wasn't going to get much information out of a giant snake, but that wasn't really what he was trying to do anyway. It was getting boring fighting with just Ryoga, Kuno and Mousse, and this snake thing looked rather interesting. He'd seen the way it moved, it was fast, but also huge, and if Ranma was smart, he'd be able to use that to it's disadvantage. 

"Out of my way, mortal, hissss, or do you with to die by my sssfangsssssss."

"Ha, is that a challenge?"

The snakes eyes seemed to bug out of it's sockets for a moment, then it's eyes closed and a strange wheeze-hissing noise was emitted from the back of it's forked tongue. It took Ranma a moment to realise what was happening... 

"Weee-hissss-s-s-s-Weeeee-hissss. Foolisssssssh mortal-sssssss. You wisssssssh to challenge me. Hisssss-weeese, Oh you make me laughsssss!!" 

...The snake was laughing at him. Him!! Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial arts. That did it, the snake was gonna die!

"TIGER BOMB!!!"

The snake's laugh-hisss was abruptly cut short when the large ball of Ki struck it in the jaw, momentarily stunning it. Behind him, Ranma heard the kid shout something like, "How did he do that?" and couldn't help but smirk. 

"So, who's the foolish one now?" 

Spoke too soon. Ranma had to all but throw himself out of the way as a huge ball of green something-or-other came flying at him out of the snake's mouth. 

"Sssstupid mortal! You will pay for your Inssssolencsssss!!!"

Ranma gulped as he looked back at the large hole where the snake's spit should have landed. Acid, Ranma realised, strong enough to melt the ground too. He'd have to be careful. Out loud he yelled. "Is that all you got, snake boy? Come at me. Tiger Bomb!!!" The snake's body recoiled to dodge his attack, and the chase was on. 

From the beginning, Ranma had realised that his regular kicks and punches would have been useless against the snake. It was just too damn big for anything like that to have an effect on it. There was only one real move Ranma knew that could take out something of this size, and he intended to use it to it's fullest. 

"YIKES!!" Ranma almost didn't see the snakes tail as it came lashing at him full speed. He jumped just in time, flipping over it's large girth and feeling wind rush past him in the tail's wake. Crap, one hit from that thing and he wouldn't be moving for a week! Mentally he thought, "Stay cool, stay cool."

"Come on Snake-boy, I got nails sharper than those fangs of yours!"

"You want to sssssssee how sssssharp my fangsssss are? Then by all meanssss!!"

The snake lunged, stupid thing wasn't very bright was it? "TIGER BOMB!"

The attack caught it square in the mouth, and continued rather painfully down it's throat. When it recovered, the snake was giving off one of the most murderous ki's Ranma had ever seen, and something else too. This energy was unlike anything Ranma had ever felt before, it sent shivers down his spine. He grit his teeth against it and continued on. Almost there, almost. The snake was coiled around him, and it's aura saturated the very air. 

The snake went for the final strike. "Die Mortal-ssssss!!"

He never made it to his target.

"HIRYU SHOTEN HA!!!" 

The initial blast of wind stopped the snake dead before blowing it backwards and forming the centre tunnel for the tornado. The wind rushed in from all sides, following the spiral pattern he had set up, and made a spinning cyclone above and all around Ranma. He watched, as always, slightly awed and more than a little bit scared, as the sheer force blowing past his nose lifted the huge creature into the air and tossed it around like scrap paper. And then he saw them, small flashes of lightning, sparks dancing all around him. Ranma had never seen those before, and he watched with mixed horror and joy as they began tearing into the snake's body. A horrible, ear splitting shriek signalled the creature's demise, and soon, its remains disintegrated into nothing but dust and ash. 

The force of the winds started to dwindle as small sparkle caught Ranma's eye. Not like the lightning, it was pink, and seemed to glow rather than flash bright white. As Ranma looked closer, he saw that it was a small crystal, like a shard of glass, and it was falling directly towards him. Deftly, he caught it in his right hand, and looked down to examine the small gem. It had a strange, powerful aura, saturated in evil, but slowly changing into something more neutral. Strange...

*~*~*~*~*

Kagome felt herself getting pulled by the sudden wind that had come out of nowhere and was now sucking her into the middle of the tornado. Where had that come from. Kagome didn't have time to think about it as her feet slid along over the ground. She wasn't going to make it, she realised as she held onto Shippo. She looked over to Miroku for help, only to find that he was having as much trouble as she was. His large, baggy robes were dragging him further into the whirlwind, and it was all he could do to dig his staff into the ground and hang on for dear life. Kagome's feet slipped again, and then gave out all together. 

"Kyaaa!" her scream was drowned out by the much larger one of a demon in agony just as she felt something snag the back of her shirt. A moment later, she felt ground along the length of her body, and she rolled over to pin Shippo safety under her. A second after that, she was encircled by strong, protective arms, and felt a light weight over her body. It stayed there until the sudden wind storm finally died out into nothing. Kagome recognised the arm near her head instantly, clothed in red, and tipped with sharp claws. Inuyasha had saved her again, and Kagome felt herself blushing as he released her from his hold and stood up. 

"You alright Kagome?" 

Kagome was too busy being embarrassed by their previous closeness to notice his own blush. "F-fine. What about you? You got hit pretty hard by that-"

"Keh!" He cut her off with an indignant snort. "Stupid Youkai, wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been distracted." He turned his attention back over to where the snake demon had once been. Kagome followed his gaze, and once again saw that strange boy. This time from the front. He was looking at something in his hand, and it didn't take Kagome long to realise it was a Shikon shard. Inuyasha didn't take long either. Angrily he turned and began stalking over to where the young man stood.

*~*~*~*~* 

"Oi!!"

Ranma looked up, and was about to go through his usual, "No need to thank me, just doing a martial artist's duty" speech. However, what he saw shocked him so thoroughly, his speech quickly turned into a very intelligent "Whu?" 

"Who the fuck are you?"

It... it was the guy, the one Ranma had seen lumberjack half a dozen trees with his body not five minutes ago, and now he saw standing here with out a scratch on him. Not only that, it was the guy from the history book. Red clothes, white hair, golden eyes, and dog ears on the top of his head. What the hell was going on here? 

"Never mind that," the living picture was saying, "just hand over the shikon shard and I might let you live." He took a step forwards and held up his hand, cracking his knuckles threateningly. It was then that Ranma noticed the claws...

"Sh-shikon shard?" Dog-boy must have been referring to the stone in his hand. "Why should I?" 

"Because it's mine." was the reply, which sounded more like a bark, and quickly turned into a growl. "I'm warning you, unlike that weak snake youkai, I could skin you alive, human."

What was with this human thing? And youkai...demon? That snake thing had been a demon? But that was impossible, the only real demon Ranma had ever seen was the size and shape of a balloon, not bigger than the largest apartment building in Nermia. 

"People have tried, and they all ended up scrap garbage." Ranma replied in his usual cocky voice. He never backed out of a challenge. "Ready when you are." He dropped back into a stance. 

There was a growl from the opponent, and then a swipe so fast Ranma almost didn't see it coming. Almost. He back flipped out of the way and used the recoil off the ground launch himself at his strange opponent full force. He wanted to test something.

"CHESTNUT FISTS."

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha was shocked as fist after fist contacted with his body. This bastard's punches were a blur even to him! Nonetheless, he lacked the demon strength needed to really hurt Inuyasha. He waited it out and then attacked again, only to be shocked when the bastard dodged. This wasn't right, he tried again, another dodge, and another barrage of punches. This time, they all seemed to hit the same place, and it was starting to feel just a little bit sore as he found himself being pushed back. What the fuck? He was losing to a mere human? No way in hell!

"SANKON TETSUO!!" 

*~*~*~*~*

The razor sharp ki was a shock to Ranma. He hadn't expected that, and he paid for it when he failed to dodge the attack completely and was rewarded by a deep cut on his cheek and shoulder. Damn. Who was this guy? To be able to make ki like that, and to withstand all Ranma's punches, the guy must have had some training. But his attacks were wide, miscalculated, and as easy to read as a highway billboard. Strange. Ranma dodged again, this time making sure to stay out of the way of the flying ki. He sprung on his hand and landed a hard kick to the guys jaw. Nothing. No reaction, no pain, nothing. 

Ranma was seriously debating weather or not he should attempt to use the Hiryuu Shoten Ha on this guy when a new voice abruptly interrupted the fight. 

"Inuyasha, Sit!" 

Dog-boy was eating dirt so fast Ranma's punch went wide and he momentarily lost his balance. He caught himself again and turned to see the chick in the school fuku before him. How had she done that?

"Bitch! What was that for!" 

The girl ignored his comment, although Ranma was sure he felt her aura turn just slightly colder for a moment. Then, suddenly she spun around and looked at him with concern. 

"Are you alright?" 

Ranma stared dumbly. Hadn't he just been attempting to beat the crap out of her companion? Now she was worried about him? Maybe she didn't really like him after all...

"Uh, yeah...nothing serious..."

The girl sighed in honest relief. "Oh good. Please excuse Inuyasha, he doesn't know how to act around people. I'm Kagome, thank you for helping us." 

"... ... uh, yeah, no prob..." Oh great Ranma, that sounded really manly...

"Oi, you, bastard, where did you come from?"

"Inuyasha, SIT!"

"Bitch, what was that for!!"

"He saved us you idiot! I was only being polite." Ranma watched as she suddenly whirled around to the guy who was now getting up after eating dirt. "What happened to you any way! You should have been able to beat that snake easily. Is there something wrong? Are you hurt again?...."

Suddenly, Ranma snapped to as something landed lightly on his uninjured shoulder. He turned to stare directly into a pair of curious, crystal blue eyes. 

"Who're you?"

"Uh, I'm uh..."

"Where'd you come from? Where'd you learn how to fight like that? How did you make the wound of the wind appear? Can you show me, huh? Huh? Can you?"

"I'm not hurt wench and NOTHING'S wrong with me. I was just about to kill it when this bastard appeared out of nowhere and..." 

Jinglejangle.... "That's enough!"

Silence....

"Miroku," Kagome said quietly. Ranma gave the guy in the large purple bag the once over. He looked pretty strong, probably knew how to handle himself in a fight too, and what was that weird aura coming from his hand... the guy, Miroku turned to Ranma. 

"Pardon my companions, they have a tendency to lose themselves in argument." The monk gave a polite half bow," Allow me to introduce you to my companions and myself. I believe Kagome-sama has already introduced herself, the man to her left is Inuyasha, the little one on you're shoulder is called Shippo, and I myself am Miroku, the monk." 

Wow the dude was eloquent. Honestly too, not like that flashy Kuno pansy. Ranma took a moment to catch his breath. "Ranma, Saotome Ranma of the Saotome school of anything goes martial arts." He nodded slightly, which was the closest thing to a bow that Ranma's pride would permit. His eyes darted over the group quickly, finally coming to rest on the one called Inuyasha, who was growling at him...

"Bastard, where did you come from! What the fuck do you want with the shards."

The ears moved, rotating slightly, just like a dog's. Inu yasha, dog demon... this guy was a demon? Ranma focused on the question, and scratched his head. "Um...does the year 1997 mean anything to you?" 

"Wha??? Where the fuck is Theyearninteennintyseven...!!"

"Wait a minute...!" 

Their attentions turned to the girl in the fuku, "Kagome," Ranma reminded himself. 

"Did you just say 1997? Do you know about Tokyo then?" 

"Uh, yeah...it's a city..." What kind of question is that, of course he knew about Tokyo? Didn't everybody?

"Kagome?" Asked Shippo, leaping into Kagome's arms, "Isn't that you're country?? To-kee-o?"

Kagome nodded, while the other's watched her dumbly. Ranma figured it was his turn to ask questions. "So, where is this place exactly? I should probably try to get home before dinner starts, or Pop's gonna eat it all on...me..." 

The look Kagome gave him made Ranma stop. It was sad, almost pitying. That wasn't good, she wouldn't pity him unless it was something bad...

"Well, Saotome-kun, this is going to be a bit of a shock but...you're in the Sangoku Jidai."

Whoosh....(insert lonely wind sound here)

"N...no way!!" Ranma took a step back. She was lying, right? There was no way in hell he could be...It was impossible, 500 years into the past!!! No way! No way! "Y-you're joking right? Hehehe...that's a funny one...hehehe...." 

More pity. She wasn't joking. Damn! 

"There is a way to get you home though, I think..." Kagome continued on reassuringly. "It's a few days travel away though, through the well..."

"Wait a minute!! There's no way I'm letting this bastard go anywhere until he gives me that shard!"

Ranma felt a battle aura flare and pulled back into a stance. This guy just didn't quite did he, and what was with the piece of glass...

"Inuyasha, sit." 

Wham. "Bitch!"

Again...why did that happen every time she said...

"What's so big about this thing anyway?" He asked instead, peering at the shard in his hand. 

Kagome did an "Oh", and the pulled something out from just under her shirt. "It's actually a shard of this, the Shikon no Tama. It broke, and now we're trying to collect the pieces. It's a kind of jewel that has power." 

Ranma could see that now. Around the girls neck hung a good chunk of the completed Tama thing, only this time the aura around it was pure, almost holy...Ranma shrugged. "Here." he tossed it to her with a flick of his thumb. Who wanted a piece of glass with an evil aura in it anyway. Probably wasn't a good thing to have...attracted bad luck...and cold water. 

"...Arigato." Kagome looked slightly surprised, but then shrugged and brought the shard up to the chunk on her neck. A slight spark, and it had fused with the rest of the jewel. Ranma was also surprised, the second she touched the jewel, it's aura became pure...who was this girl... 

"Um, Kagome...sama," He was hesitant to add on the polite part, but what the heck, he needed to ask her..." I don't suppose you could tell me how I could get back to Nerhmia? I mean, I kinda want to go back home..."

Kagome nodded and smiled at him. "Mn, Of course, I'll take you myself, as soon as Inuyasha here let's me go home again. I'm soooo behind in my school work!!" she wailed. Ranma blinked...she was worried about school work, here?

"Keh! Wench! What the hell makes you're tests so important anyway! It's just an excuse to get out of looking for...!"

"Inuyasha, SIT" 

Wham! 

"...and again??... " thought Ranma.

"Well, I suggest we be off then. We still have to go pick up Sango and Kirara before we can go back to the village. Come on Shippo." The monk said suddenly. There was some grumbling from Inuyasha as he picked himself back up, and a sigh from Kagome. Ranma watched as they started walking off and shook his head. Strange bunch indeed...he started to follow them.

"Um, Saotome-kun..." 

"Call me Ranma." Ranma told Kagome. If he wasn't going to call her Kagome-sama, she didn't need to call him Saotome-kun all the time either. 

"Oh, Okay, Ranma...I was going to ask you...I hope you don't mind...but..."

Ranma looked at her, she was blushing furiously. Hah! The ladies man strikes again! Not that any woman would ever be able to resist him...

"Why are you wearing a bra?" 

...

... ...

... ... ...

"AH!!" Ranma yelled, then ripped of the piece of clothing and threw it too the ground. "I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL THE OLD FREEK! THAT PERVERT! I'LL KILL HIM!!"

And the newly reformed group continued on their way...


	2. Abductions and Curses

Chapter 2

*~*~*~*~*

So, put yourself in Ranma's shoes. 

One minute, you're in your room studying for a test. The next thing you know you've been thrown into the pages of your history text book and are fighting demons while travelling with a monk, a girl from Tokyo, a messed up little kid and an irritable guy with dog ears. 

Naturally, you ask a lot of questions. 

And of course, being Ranma, you don't want to make it look like you're asking a lot of questions. 

"...So..." Ranma slowed his pace down to walk next to the Kagome chick, who was pushing a bicycle loaded with some kind of large army surplus type knapsack. She flashed him a brief smile before going back to pushing her bike and following that Inuyasha guy, who was slowly leading them to only gods knows where. He didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that Kagome was lagging a bit behind. Noticing the tired look on Kagome's face, Ranma saw his chance. 

"Here, why don't ya let me take that?" Ranma flashed her one of his "winning" smiles and slowly eased the bike out of her hands. Oh yeah, he was the king of smooth. 

Kagome gave him a startled look before showing her own, grateful grin. "Arigato, Ranma-kun." she said. Hey, she was kinda cute when she smiled.

  
"Just call me Ranma. I'm used to that." 

"Oh, okay then, you can call me, Kagome."

"Sure." 

Another pause. Shoot. He had to keep her talking if he wanted to find out anything about this place. Mainly, who was that white-haired guy that kept threatening to rip his head off, and could Ranma beat him? 

"Jeese, what's his big hurry? We late for a dinner or something?"

Kagome turned to him, following his gaze to Inuyasha. "Well, actually, Inuyasha's always like this. He complains about how us weak humans are always slowing him down all the time." She rolled her eyes and glared at the back of Inuyasha's head. 

"Weak humans, what does that make him then?"

Kagome looked at him like he'd just grown a second head, before suddenly shaking her own and smiling slightly to herself. 

"Sorry, I guess I've gotten so used to being here, that...well..." She gave her head another shake, and didn't finish her sentence, spacing out as she watched the red clad figure walking ahead of them. She suddenly dropped her voice, whispering, as if afraid Inuyasha might hear her. 

"Actually, Inuyasha's a hanyou, half demon, half human. His father was a great dog demon, and the ruler of the western lands. His mother was a human woman, but he doesn't like to talk about her..."

"Oi Kagome, hurry up or we'll leave you behind! You too, pigtails!" 

...Pigtails?! That does it! "Come on, Kagome!"

"Ranma, wha?! EEP!"

A second later, Ranma had effortlessly lifted Kagome into the air, holding her bridal style. Climbing onto the bike, he balanced her on his forearms while his hands grasped the handlebars and they were off. Kagome's arms flinging around his neck and clinging there for dear life. Ranma smirked. He would show dog-boy a thing or two. 

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had just barely registered Kagome's squeak in his brain and was turning around to see what snake, worm or other creepy crawler had gotten in her way this time. Instead of a snake, however, all Inuyasha caught sight of was a black, red, green and white, insanely smirking blur before being flattened to the ground and covered with bicycle tracks. 

"Inuyasha!" Miroku ran up to where the hanyou was peeling himself off of the ground. 

"What the fuck was that!" 

"It's Saotome-san, he has Kagome with him!"

"WHAT!!"

*~*~Meanwhile~*~*

"He, he. If there's one thing I've learned from Shampoo, it's how to make a weapon out of a bicycle." Ranma laughed to himself as they sped along. He looked down at the girl in his arms to see she had shut her eyes so tightly her eye lids were in danger of fusing closed.

"Hey! It's okay. I won't drop you!" 

Kagome risked a peek at Ranma's face, only to be quickly distracted by the greenish blur of the countryside as it whizzed past her. She shut her eyes again. 

"...too...fast..." she managed to squeak out. Ranma felt her arms tighten even more around his neck. He sighed. 

"Alright, alright, I'll slow down already." Feeling only slightly disappointed at the loss of exhilarating speed, Ranma slowed down from his ludicrous pace, settling into something that would merely be considered fast. Finally, Kagome stopped choking him long enough to take a look around. She was maybe even starting to enjoy the ride, when suddenly, she looked behind...

"LOOK OUT!" 

"Wha?" Ranma spun his head around just in time to see the half crazed dog man launch his attack. 

"CLAWS OF BLOOD!!"

Instantly, the air was filled with burning red arcs of ki, and Ranma had just enough time to duck his head down to prevent himself from being decapitated. What the hell? Why was that jerk attacking him? It was just a joke after all, wasn't it?

"Kagome!"

Another volley of red arcs, this time when they missed, they went into the bush and hacked down several trees. Ranma swore and once again increased his speed past the acceptable limit. That jerk was really trying to kill him, and as much as he wanted to fight, he couldn't do it without dropping Kagome. Crap. 

"What's gotten into him?" Ranma yelled over the force of the wind as they screamed along the path. Kagome cringed and several more trees quickly met their demise as the bicycle swerved around a corner.

"KAGOME!!"

Kagome risked a peek behind them, only to see a desperate, angry looking Inuyasha getting ready to make another attack. He wasn't aiming at her, she knew, but he seemed very eager to put an end to Ranma's life as quickly as possible. Suddenly, Kagome realised what this looked like, and managed to squeak out. 

"Inuyasha ...probably thinks ...you're trying to kidnap me again..." 

"What?!"  
  
"Kagome!" 

"Oh, Crap!" 

Inuyasha was practically running along side them now. Ranma tried to increase his speed even more, but he was already at his limit. How could this freak run so fast? Was it because he was a demon?

"Put Kagome down NOW you bastard!!" Nice language. What the hell was he so mad about? 

"Just stop Ranma." Kagome yelped out. Over the roar of the wind, Ranma didn't hear. 

"What?" 

"I said AH! LOOK OUT!!" 

"Where?"

But it was too late. The bicycle hit the stump, stopping so suddenly that Ranma, Kagome and Kagome's bag all went flying forwards twenty feet through the air. Kagome screamed as she saw what was coming next. It was a pond, an eewy, slimy, smelly frog pond, and she was heading straight for it!

"INUYASH-oomph!" 

"Kagome!"

"SPLASH!!"

Kagome was standing next to the pond, being supported by Inuyasha as one strong arm pressed her to his side. He was breathing heavily, a sheen of sweat formed on his brow. 

"Inuyasha..."

They were so close. His body was warm against her side, and her own breathing was ragged from the fright she had just experienced. Then she saw it. Blood dripping sluggishly from the wound on his left wrist. He had opened it up in an effort to use his blood claw attack earlier. Kagome winced at the sight. 

"Inuyasha!" Stepping away from him, she grabbed her handkerchief from her pocket and began dabbing the wound. As usual his only response was a "Keh!" before the sound of sloshing water met his ears. 

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU DOG FACED JERK!! YOU WERE TRYING TO KILL ME!!"

Inuyasha made a very intelligent sound like "Huh?" as he stared. Before him was, what appeared to be a wet, angry female with flaming red hair and those same clothes that the Ranma freak had been wearing. Speaking of which...

"Fucking bastard! Where is he?" Inuyasha spun around to face the pond, using one arm to gently shove Kagome behind him. "I'll kill him when I see him. Teach him to steal MY shards!"

"What?" said Ranma-chan.

"WHAT!!" Screamed Kagome. The air was suddenly very cold, although Ranma could have sworn he saw steam issuing out of the top of Kagome's head. Inuyasha gulped audibly.

"Is that what this was all about Inuyasha? You were only worried about the shards?!"

"No...wait...Kagome I-"

"SIIITTTTT!!! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!! SIIIIITTTT!!"

WHAM!!!! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!!!!

Ranma cringed. It reminded him of Akane's mallet. 

Inuyasha growled weakly from the whole his face had made in the ground. "Rrrr....b~i~tch!!!"

"And for your information, " Kagome continued, "Ranma wasn't trying to kidnap me! YOU said we should hurry up, so he did that!! Humph!" Kaome crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her nose in the air while Inuyasha made a grunting noise that resembled an, "Oh." 

Kagome stayed like that for all of three seconds before a thought suddenly struck her. She began scanning the surrounding area. 

"By the way...where did Ranma...??" 

"I'm right here."

Kagome blinked at the girl before her. Then blinked again. 

"B-but...you're a...and Ranma is..."  
  
"I'm Ranma Saotome." Ranma confirmed again. Great, another group of people he was going to have to explain himself to. 

"You see, I kinda have this curse..." Ranma looked up to see two pairs of eyes staring curiously at her, Inuyasha having just peeled himself off of the boggy ground. Ranma sighed. 

"It's a long story, but basically, I get turned into a girl when I get splashed with cold water and hot water changes me back. Clear enough right?"

"..."

Ranma was looking into two of the blankest stares he had ever seen. And that was saying a lot, considering he knew both Kuno and Ryoga. 

"...erm...You'll get used to it, don't worr-"

"KAGOME!!" 

Ranma was cut short as the purple clad priest suddenly caught up to them. The moment he was close enough, that little tailed brat suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and instantly flew from the monk's shoulder into the awaiting arms of Kagome. He snuggled into her embrace just as the panting monk managed to catch his breath enough to speak. 

"Kagome-sama," gasp, " Thank goodness that you're," wheeze, "alright." He waited another moment before speaking in a much clearer tone. "We were quite worried when that Ranma fellow decided to kidnap you. It's a shame. He seemed so trustworthy too..."

"Hey! I'm right here you know!"

Miroku stopped short, and blinked, confused for a moment. "Oh my!" 

Soon, his intense stare was started to make Ranma feel uncomfortable.

"What? Have I got something on my face-?" 

"My lady! Please forgive me, but I have never before seen such radiant beauty in all my life. May I ask you, are you promised to another man?" 

"What? No, of course no-"

'Then allow me to ask a favour of you." Miroku continued before Ranma could finish. "Please, if you do this, I will be forever in your debt." 

Ranma thought for a moment, "Well, maybe..." Okay, so the monk seemed desperate, and it wasn't like she'd never done anybody favours as a girl before. "...what is it?"

The monk sucked in a deep breath before suddenly grabbing both of Ranma's small hands and holding them in his. He looked deep into Ranma's eyes and said...

"Will you bear my child?"

"WHAAAAAT!!?" Ranma's mind screamed. For a moment, he was too shocked to move. 

"Just one, I promise you. I simply need an heir to..."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA...AAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

Miroku and Ranma were both shocked out of their stupor by the sound of, believe it or not, Inuyasha's laugher. The half demon was having a grand old time, rolling on the ground and holding his sides as if trying to prevent them from splitting apart. After getting over his surprise, Miroku gave Inuyasha a rather annoyed look before saying. "I don't see what's so funny about this, Inuyasha. The future of my entire family line depends on..."

It was hopeless. Inuyasha didn't appear to hear a word Miroku had said as tears leaked out of his eyes from laughing so hard. Finally, between gasps and loud cackles of laughter, he managed to blurt out, "Muh-Miroku... hahahahaha...Youjustaskeda HAHAHAHAHA...ha a GUY to bearyour...your...BWAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHA!!!"

Miroku just stood there, so utterly confused by Inuyasha's words that he didn't notice Ranma finally recovering from the shock of being asked to bear someone's child. The second s/he did though, the air turned extremely chilly...

"SICKO!!"

Kapow!

Inuyasha almost killed himself laughing. 

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: If you're thinking that this might be a Kagome/Ranma fan fiction, you're wrong. This story will have all the regular pairings in them. Ranma and Kagome are just friends, and that's all!!


	3. Moonlit Spar

Part 3

Ranma sighed and brought his hands up to pillow the back of his head as he lay on the grass and stared at the stars. They looked just like the ones he'd seen on his training trips, minus the occasional floating satellite or winking airplane. In fact, the whole scenario reminded him of training trips he'd been on in the past. Walk all day with a bunch of weirdo's to the middle of a forest. Break out the hot water. Change back into a man. Fight over who's going to cook dinner. Fight over dinner. Fight after dinner, and finally go to sleep. 

No, this was just like a training trip, and yet, the few minor differences weren't easy to ignore. First off, it lacked a few key people, his Pop being one of them, and Ukyo. Sometimes Ryoga would wander in and they'd have a good spar. The old ghoul usually had some good advice. If Shampoo came, you could bet your money that Mousse wasn't very far away, and if girls were involved, Happosai and Kuno were bound to show up, at the worst possible time too. And then Akane would kick them both to kingdom come, as long as she wasn't near water. And if she was cooking, then she'd just show them the food and they'd run away. No wait, Kuno was too stupid to run. He'd eat the stuff and then die, almost. The jerk had more lives than a cat.

"I wonder what they're all doing now?" he sighed to the sky. Were they worried? Concerned? Had they even noticed he was gone? Did they care? Dammit of course they cared, if they had noticed...

"Damn, this ain't getting me no where." and it was true. The more he thought, the more awake he felt, the more awake he felt, the less likely he was to fall asleep. "Might as well do something useful." 

He stood up, briefly stretching out his muscled in the cool night air as glanced around at his new companions. The Kagome was wrapped up in a sleeping bag with Shippo tucked under her arm like a teddy bear. The monk was sitting up against a tree, and through the leafy canopy, he could just make out the hints of moonlight reflecting off of dog boy's hair. Kinda weird, sleeping in a tree. Oh well. So was turning into a girl. 

Off to his right was a wide open field Ranma decided would be the best place to work on some Kata. So he began.

Kick, punch block high, block low, roundhouse...

...Wonder what that thing was today, was it really a demon? Never seen one like that before....

leap, kick, groundhouse, punch, flip, cartwheel....

...And that weird light, Shippo called it the wound of the wind. I don't remember doing anything special to it, just my normal Dragon Blast...

...Handstand, spin, kick, block, spin, chop, dive, roll...

...Can that Kagome girl really get me back home. I don't believe she spent the whole night studying. I mean, if there are so many demons, you'd think she'd have more important things to worry about, mainly living...

...Flip, jump, dodge, block, jump, spin kick, block, chestnut fist....

...Shikon no Tama, huh? What does it really do? And why does dog boy want it so much. Isn't he supposed to be a...

"Oi!" 

With miraculous grace, Ranma managed to somehow, curve the arc of his attack away from said demon's face and still remain on his feet. However, he was slightly in shock. Did this guy just appear out of no-where? Ranma'd never heard or felt anything to suggest his presence. Once again, Ranma wondered just what sort of training this guy'd had. He didn't ask though, instead he said, 

"Yo, what are you doing up so late, I thought you were asleep?"

snort, "How could anyone sleep with you bouncing around out here making so much noise. What the fuck are you doing?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow, noise? "I wasn't making any noise, I was training."

"Yeah, well then you're training makes noise, so cut it out and go to sleep."

Ranma was silent for a minute as Inuyasha turned to stalk back to his tree. He hadn't taken more than two steps, however, when he heard Ranma's voice behind him. 

"Spar with me."

Inuyasha stopped, turned, and "Eh?" This idiot wanted to spar with him, in the middle of the night. "Why should I."

"Why should I stop training?" Ranma shrugged, and continued on with his Kata. 

"Hey, I said quit that!"

"Oh come on man, don't tell me you're that tired?"

"I'm not tired, you weak human. I don't want you slowing us down tomorrow cause you're half asleep!"

"Weak human? Ha, I almost beat you earlier today, and you call me a weak human? You weak demon."

"What!" 

"Gottim," thought Ranma. Then he was on the run, observing his adversary. Once again, Inuyasha was fast, but his swings were like those of some hopeless drunk. What kind of style is that? He seemed to use only his claws, no knees, feet, elbows or fists. His footing was all over the place, his main attacking force came from his momentum, which left him so incredibly wide open Ranma could have hit him any number of times if he'd wanted to. The other thing Ranma noticed was that he did nothing to hide his emotions while fighting. Every time he was about to attack, his eyes opened just slightly, more than enough to give him away. At last, Ranma delivered a swift kick to the back of the skull which, combined with Inuyasha's unbalanced momentum, easily sent him face first to the ground. 

Ranma stopped, barely breathing hard, and watched as Inuyasha got himself quickly to his feet, looking more than a little confused. Ranma must have looked the same. "This guy fights like he's had no training whatsoever in his life. But then how did he managed to summon that Ki attack? That should take years of practice, at least. How...?"

"Had enough?" 

Ranma focused again on Inuyasha. "I think I should be saying that to you, you're the one that's huffing and puffing like an old man."

And it was true, although, what could you expect? A style like that wasted a lot of energy, not to mention free flowing emotion made people excitable...

Inuyasha took a half breath and was instantly calm as a cucumber, and growling. Ranma watched, more puzzled still. "How'd he learn to fight like that?" He muttered, more to himself.

He was more than a little surprised when he got an answer. 

"Keh," Inuyasha was crouched on the ground. "I taught my self!" 

He pounced, and Ranma was so shocked, he almost didn't jump out of the way in time. The bad start made dodging Inuyasha's attacks seem that much more difficult as the mere possibility ran thought his head like wildfire. 

"Woa, woa, wait a minute!!" he tried, but Inuyasha didn't feel like stopping, so Ranma had to dodge and talk at the same time. Slightly more difficult.

"You mean to say, " duck, "that you've never, " jump, "been taught how to fight." 

"No shit." Was the reply. Inuyasha was still intent on hitting Ranma, and he wasn't being quite so wild this time, not leaving as many openings.

"You're kidding me," flip, "No training!" turn, "As in no Sensei, no, " dodge, "school, no nothing?" 

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Serious??!" At last, Ranma saw an opening. He kicked, but somehow, Inuyasha blocked. The two broke apart, with Ranma feeling just slightly tired this time. 

He ignored it as he turned to a smirking Inuyasha. "You mean to tell me, that what you're doing right now, everything you've done today, all you're attacks and moves...you all learned yourself??"

Inuyasha shrugged, "Yeah, what of it?"

"But that... ...that's impossible?!?"

This time, it was Inuyasha's turn to quirk an eyebrow. 

Seeing the blank look on his face, Ranma took a deep breath. "Okay," he said, " watch this."

With practiced ease, Ranma focused all his energy into one, single emotion, and released it in a ball of energy. The small, rather weak blast went zooming off across the field, shearing off a few distant branches when it finally reached the wall of the forest. Inuyasha watched it go, the puzzled look on his face quickly slipping into one of suspicion.

"I knew you were too strange to be a human. How are you hiding your scent from me, demon?"

Ignoring the strange reference to his scent, Ranma just shrugged and looked down at his fist. "I come from a long line of martial artists. I've been trained in the art of fighting since I was old enough to walk. I could punch before I could speak, and even then, it's just recently that I've started to get a handle on the Ki attack."

Snort, "So? I've been doing it for years? What's the big deal?"

Ranma gaped. "What's the big deal? Think man! All that stamina, that speed, that strength, you're ability to use Ki...It's all NATURAL! I've been training for years, and I can barely keep up with you now. Imagine how good you'd be if you had the type of training I did. You'd be unstoppable!" 

"Keh, like I need you're stupid training..." 

Quicker than lightning, Ranma had belted him across the clearing and into a tree, proof that Ranma hadn't been using his real strength either. 

Of course, Inuyasha was pissed. "Oi, bastard, what was that for?" 

Ranma, however, wasn't listening. "I'm going to sleep. Don't make too much noise dog-boy." He yawned as he walked back to his original spot and lay back down. 

Inside, however, he was raging. Here he'd trained his whole life to become best in the world...

...and, with just a month of training, that damn demon would probably be able to blow him away. 

*~*~*~*~*


	4. Mr Potato Head

Chapter 4

Ranma's mood still hadn't improved much by morning. To make matters worse, it was raining, and Ranma, having given up trying to stay dry, was in female form now. 

"Pervert!!" 

*Crunch!*

Oh well, at least he was able to take his frustration out on somebody. Poor Miroku had already been punched twice, elbowed once, and kicked into a tree on three different occasions. Not that it seemed to phase him…much. 

"And I used to think Sango was fierce."

Kagome had to laugh a bit at that. Despite his lecherous ways, Kagome knew that the monk had a soft spot for Sango, and that the exterminator returned his feelings, even though she would never show it. The miko only hoped the pair would get together before it was too late. 

"Oi, wench! Hurry up!" 

…and it would be really nice if a certain hanyou would open up to her too every once in a while. Sigh…

"Whadder ya thinkin about?" 

Kagome almost jumped as Ranma appeared at her side in the rain outside of her umbrella. 

"Oh not much, do you want to share?" She offered her umbrella.

Ranma was instantly reminded of when he and Akane had been both stuck at school without an umbrella. It just so happened that the only spare left was supposed to make the people sharing it fall in love with each other. Then word had gotten around that the "Love Umbrella" had been found and like usual, all hell had broken loose. Ranma barely recalled when he had somehow ended up under the thing with Kuno of all people and shuddered involuntarily. Nope no more umbrella sharing for him. Uh-uh, no way. 

"That's okay." 

…wonder what would have happened if the damn thing hadn't broke before he and Akane landed underneath it...

Up a head, a certain dog boy let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. 'That's right punk, there's no way in hell I'm letting you stand that close to my Kagome.' 

'My Kagome?' No, no, he meant, 'My shard detector!'

"Keh!"

The wind gust in from the side, blowing his soaked bangs into his face, and bringing with it a smell… 

…and then it was gone. Inuyasha stopped, instantly alert, listening.

"…and my math class is just…" Inuyasha turned to the two talking 'girls' and let out a hiss, indicating that they should be quiet. Once they stopped moving, he closed his eyes, listening. 

Nothing: or at least nothing he could detect. The wind didn't blow from that way again, and no unusual sounds could be heard above the din of the falling rain.

Miroku and Ranma were in the same boat too, all focusing their senses upon the surrounding area, and getting nothing. No fighting aura, no youki from an enraged demon, all was quite. 

Too quiet, all thought, and so they continued sensing. It seemed just out of their reach, right below their noses…

"KYAAAAA!"

Miroku jumped, Ranma screamed like a girl before clapping his hands over his mouth, and Inuyasha turned and sprinted over to Kagome so fast he lost his footing in the slick mud and ended up doing a face plant right at Kagome's feet. 

"KYAAAAA!! Earthworm! Ewwe! Take it away! Take it AWAY!!"

Shippo was kind enough to oblige, while everyone else regained their composure and Ranma and Inuyasha glared daggers at Kagome.

"Dammit wench! What the hell is your problem!!"

Kagome sniffed, her eyes watery, "I ran over it with my bicycle and all the guts came out and it was soooo eeewwyyyy!!"

Inuyasha smacked himself on the forehead, unintentionally sending a splat of mud onto Ranma an Miroku. Worm guts! He had been smelling worm guts. Of all the stupid, dumb ass - he turned around and started walking again. Only Kagome could make something so small into such a big fucking dea-

"KYAAAA!

"Look out!" 

"Kagome-Sama!"

"Kagome!"

Like a shot Inuyasha whipped around, hand on Tetsusaiga, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. What he saw, however, was enough to make his blood run cold. Kagome was being held around the waist high in the air by the branch of a giant tree. Around her, several other branches, pointed and deadly, were aimed at the pale flesh of her throat.

"I-Inuyasha…" 

Fuck, why did she have to go and say fucking his name like that. It made Inuyasha's stomach quiver and a surge of desperation flew through his veins. Kagome…

A sudden bellow of laughter filled the woods, forcing Inuyasha's ears flat against his head. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once, as Miroku, Ranma, Shippou and Inuyasha followed its echo with their heads. Their senses continued to find nothing definite, as the laughter stopped and was replaced by words. 

"Hahahaha…Pathetic hanyou," Ranma turned at the sound of Inuyasha's growling, noting how the voice had spit out the word hanyou as if it were an insult. The voice continued

"If you want this girl to live, you will hand over the shikon shards to me!"

Inuyasha's growl deepened in pitch, frustrated and angry. The tree had Kagome, yet all he could smell was an ordinary tree. Also the voice seemed to be coming from all around, not just one location. What was going on?

"Keh! Why should I hand over the shikon shards to some stupid voice? Try showing yourself to me, though I can't say I won't kill you when you do." 

"Mwahahahaha! Very well then, the girl dies."

"Inuyasha!"

It all happened instantly. At the last spoken threat, Ranma leapt, releasing a ball of ki at the branch that held Kagome captive. In the same breath, Shippo began attacking the tree, using his supernatural fire to light the thing up like a torch, and Inuyasha sliced through the bottom of the tree with Tetsusaiga, effectively "killing" it. Kagome dropped out of the sky and into Inuyasha's waiting arms. Inuyasha growled at the light scent of blood mixed in with the rainwater on her neck. This thing was going to die. 

"Hahahahaha…just as I suspected of a hanyou, needing to rely on his fathers strength because his own is inefficient to get the job done." 

"What, you fucking bastard! How do you know my father!"

"I know many things, hanyou. You would be surprised what knowledge trees can accumulate over their long lives, and how eager they are to talk when they find someone who is willing to listen…mwahahahaha!"

The voice disintegrated into laughter again as an eerie whispering and creaking began drowning out the sound of the falling rain all around them. It was Shippo who made the connection first. 

"Th-th-the trees! They're moving! W-we're surrounded!! AAAAHH!!"

"Shut up brat!" Inuyasha flicked his ears up from where they had been pressed against his skull. He was missing something in this, something important. And what was all this shit about talking trees? 

"Haha…that's right little fox. Soon you will be joining your parents in the after life, forever! Hahahaha." 

Shippo's eyes grew large before flinging himself into Kagome's arms with a loud wail. Kagome backed up into the center of the ever shrinking clearing, as Ranma, Miroku and Inuyasha formed a protective ring around her and Shippo. Ranma was the next one to speak, just as the trees began to attack, lashing out with their long spindly branches, using them like whips. 

"What the hell is going on here!" The cursed boy yelled, sending out another ball of ki in the direction of the trees. It shattered branches, but otherwise didn't do much damage. Ranma landed again, cursing his weaker form. 

"I believe if we knew that, Ranma-dono, we would already be working towards a solution, instead of just fending for ourselves." Was Miroku's rather observant reply as he used his staff to swat away the ever-encroaching branches. 

"Keh! You want a solution? Here's your fucking solution: SANKON TETSUO!"

…Guess who said that. 

The yellow arcs ripped through the trees, slicing off limbs and even "decapitating" a trunk. Inuyasha smirked at his success. However, the relief was short lived, as soon an even larger tree filled in the gap behind the first one. 

"Goddam fucking sonnofa…"

"Inuyasha, as much as I share your sentiments, swearing isn't going to help us get anywhere," Miroku interrupted. "That voice seems to be the driving force controlling these threes. We need to find out where it's coming from."

Ranma grimaced, taking a step back as one of the branches came within spearing distance. While he agreed with the monk's statement. It was easier said than done. If any of them moved, it would leave them open on one side, and then Kagome and the kid would be left vulnerable. 

"You see! It is futile to resist hanyou. Just give up and hand over the shards, and I will end your miserable existence swiftly, without pain." 

A growl rose up from the above mentioned half demon, before turning into a rather loud streak of curses, and ending with a, "Screw this!" In a flash, Inuyasha abandoned his position, stepping back into the center of the clearing. He didn't stop there however. One mighty leap later and Inuyasha was high in the air and above the reach of the attacking trees. Digging both claws through into his shoulders, his fingertips came out slick with blood. Drawing his arms back, Inuyasha readied himself for the attack. 

HIJIN TETSUO!!

Coming down, he swung his arms in wide arcs, releasing the blades of blood around him into the circling trees. The first volley took out a large portion of the attacking branches. The second and third dismembered limbs and stripped the trees of their attacking arms. With the fourth attack, trunks finally started to fall, forming a makeshift barrier around the clearing, and buying the group some more time. 

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou landed for the fifth time, hunched over with blood dripping off his claws and down his clothes. Kagome ran to him, while Ranma couldn't help but wonder why the half demon had made such a stupid move. It had done little more than buy them time, and now their best fighter was down for the count. There was no way Inuyasha would be able to stand up straight after sustaining so much blood loss. 

"Hahahah, you think that will stop me, pathetic hanyou!"

Inuyasha, however, proved Ranma wrong. As Kagome knelt down beside the hanyou, placing a comforting hand on his back, he seemed steel himself again, and rose to his feet without so much as a waver, ready to fight again. 

"Keh, fucking asshole. What a pain, we should put him out of his fucking misery." 

"Yes," agreed the monk, "But the question is how do we get him to show himself?"

It was at this point that Kagome, who'd had the most time out of anyone to think things over, came up with an idea. Coming over to stand beside Inuyasha, she whispered it in his ear. 

"If we can't see him, do you think he can see us?"

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. Come to think of it, how was this asshole watching them. It couldn't have been in a tree, Inuyasha had already killed most of them, and they were all 

around. So how were they being watched, the sky?

Instantly Inuyasha jerked his head up, sniffing the air. Nothing, there was nothing in the sky, and once again, there was no scent carried on the wind that even gave a clue as to what they were fighting. But then, how were they being watched. 

"So hanyou, scared into silence are you?" By this time the dead logs had somehow been dragged back by the incoming tree's branches, and the clearing had, once again, started to shrink as the attacking trees advanced. 

Kagome looked over her shoulder and whispered something to Shippo. The fox kit nodded, and began rummaging through his pockets in search of something. The others gave Kagome a quizzical look, but Kagome shushed them by putting her fingers to her lips. Not a moment later, Shippo pulled something out of his shirt with a look of triumph on his face. Ranma gave her a skeptical look. How was a child's top supposed to help with anything? 

He didn't get a chance to ask though, as Shippo suddenly jumped up into the air, releasing the top with a string, letting it fall to the ground a good distance away from the group, and close to the approaching trees. 

To Ranma's surprise, once it hit the ground, the child's top seemed to balloon until it was at least a foot taller than his own head. Surprised, they all watched with baited breath. 

WHAM!!

A tree branch came down, hitting the top and causing it to wobble, while another attempted to spear its side. 

As if on cue, Shippo let out an earsplitting shriek, as if in pain, while Kagome began screaming his name, "Shippo! No! No Shippo!"

The others would have thought the pair had lost it. Especially when Kagome began making hand gestures, telling them to join in. Eventually, they got the hint, though still unsure why, and started screaming Shippo's name as if he were the one being beaten, instead of the top. After continuing this for several seconds, the top was finally conquered by a rather hard smack from a tree limb, and shrunk back to his original size. Shippo stopped screaming, and the others too, became silent. Only Kagome continued to cry, doing it so effectively, Inuyasha wondered if he hadn't been duped all the times her tears had guilted him into doing something.

"Oh, Shippo, oh no, Shippo-chan…Why?" 

And suddenly the voice was back.

"Mwahahaha!! I told that little brat he would meet his maker. Hahahaha!! But don't worry little girl, you'll be joining him soon, you and everyone else. Not one of you will ever leave this forest alive. Hahahahaha!!" 

Kagome stopped crying, her eyes flashing with triumph. Turning to Inuyasha, she whispered in his ear. 

"He's in the ground Inuyasha, that's why we can't sense him. He can feel our movements through the earth, and hear our voices, but he can't see us and we can't find him." 

Inuyasha blinked at her, unsure how she'd managed to come up with that idea. However, it was the only possibility they hadn't tried yet, so he just nodded and readied his sword. 

"All right, when I jump, everyone split. Stay close to the ground, and try to avoid the trees."

Ramna looked like he was about to protest, but a glare from Inuyasha, followed by a nod from Kagome, and he decided he'd wait and see what those two had been planning. 

Without further ado, Inuyasha leapt into the air. Miroku and Kagome ran in direction, while Ranma darted off in the opposite one. They were almost at the trunks of the surrounding trees when Inuyasha began to lose altitude. Turning in mid air, he began to plummet face first towards the ground, sword in hand, ready to strike. 

"TETSUSAIGA!" 

The force of his swing split the earth, before Inuyasha brought the weapon back in line with his body to complete the fall, using the downward momentum to thrust the sword down into the earth, right at the deepest point of his previously made slash. When he was finished, the hilt of Tetsusaiga was only a few inches above the soil. The trees shuttered, halting their movement, and the air became eerily quiet. 

"Did you get him Inuyasha?" asked the curious fox demon. 

Inuyasha, however, didn't have a chance to answer as the ground began to rumble beneath their feet. Bubbles of dark youki surfaced with a hiss, and filled the air with the overwhelming stench of rotting leaves and wood. Everyone, especially Inuyasha, had to cover their noses and mouths to keep from retching or passing out all together. In the midst of this that Ranma sensed it: fighting ki. For the first time in this battle, it was clear and easy to recognize, and it was coming from directly below…

"Inuyasha! LOOK OUT!!"

Before the cry had even left Ranma's mouth, something shot out of the ground and thrust its way directly through the half-demon's diaphragm. The man turned girl watched with wide eyes as Inuyasha arched his back and let out a strangled cry before slumping forward, blood pouring from his wound and mixing with the mud at the proud hanyou's knees. 

Before Ranma could think, he was moving. Leaping into the split in the earth and karate chopping the thing that had pierced through Inuyasha. His mind absently registered that the hanyou had been attacked by a long, sharply pointed root. He threw the unmoving form of Inuyasha over his feminine shoulder in a fireman's hold, and leapt for the far side of the clearing where Kagome, Miroku and Shippo were watching anxiously. 

Not a moment too soon either. The moment Ranma had cleared the split, another root had thrust out of the hole, followed by another, and then another. The ground began to shift as something with a massive body began dragging itself to the surface by its spindly root like arms. 

Ranma gently set Inuyasha down at the edge of the clearing next to a fretting Kagome. Then he turned his head back towards the enemy. He thought he heard Miroku gasp, "Naraku." and wondered if that was some kind of name for this demon. When the thing had finally managed to shake itself free of dirt, Ranma's first impression was that the thing looked like a giant rotting potato, with roots for arms, blotched black and leathery brown skin, and beady black eyes. Behind him, Shippo voiced his agreement. 

"It's not Naraku, it's an angry vegetable! I knew those things were evil!"

"Mwahahahaha! Clever little girl. The hanyou's attack broke my concentration, and thus, my control over the trees. Who would have guessed a mere incarnate could have been so perceptive. Mwahaha!! But then, if you were anywhere near as strong as Kikyou, I'd be dead already. Hahahahaha!!"

Kagome's jaw hung open for a moment, and it was Miroku who intervened on her behalf, placing himself between his friends and the demon, "…and just how do you happen to know that Lady Kagome is the re-incarnate of lady Kikyou?" The monk asked, releasing a loop of the rosary, preparing to use that Kazaza. 

The demon just laughed again. "Oh but didn't I already mention? It's amazing what trees remember, and they're always so eager to share with anyone who wants to listen. The girl is the re-incarnation of Kikyou, a priestess who died fifty years ago, and who has been re-born in a body of clay, that feeds on the souls of angry women. The kitsune is an orphan who needed the hanyou's help to avenge the murder of his parents by the thunder brothers…" the potato demon paused to look at Miroku, his thin, lipless mouth twisting into a smirk. "And at this moment, you, monk, are thinking of sucking me into the endless void in your right hand. The same kind of void that killed your father, and his father, and you too, soon, unless you kill Naraku, am I correct?"

If he was shocked at the fact that the giant talking potato knew so much about the group, Miroku didn't show it. Instead, he just returned the demon's smirk with a glare of his own. "Then, knowing that, be prepared to meet oblivion. KAZANAA!"

Ranma, who'd had no clue what the Kazanaa was, almost ended up being ripped off of his feet by the violent winds that suddenly sprang up within the clearing. Taking up a more solid stance, low to the ground, he watched amazed as rocks, dirt and even whole tree trunks were sucked into the baseball-sized hole in the monk's hand. 

Unlike Ranma, however, the demon had been prepared for this, and it dug its giant, root like arms deep into the ground, to stop himself from being blown away. Amidst the chaos, Ranma again felt the flare of fighting ki. Only this time, she knew what it meant. 

"Monk! Watch out under ya!"

Miroku had barely registered the words when a root suddenly emerged from the ground directly below his feet. Reacting instantly, the monk sealed up his hand and threw his weight backwards. It was just in time. The root thrust up into the space his body had occupied not moments before, and instead jabbed into the flesh of Miroku's upper arm.

"Miroku!!" The fox blasted the root with his kitsune-bi, watching as it fell to the ground burning as if it had always just been a normal piece of wood. "Miroku, are you okay?"

The monk gripped his arm in pain, but still managed to force out a gasping affirmative.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha, look at me…"

At Kagome's voice, Ranma cast a glance over her shoulder at the wounded half-demon, and briefly wondered if Inuyasha's wounds looked anything like seppuku. He was pale and gasping for air through the pain, his body occasionally shuttering as he was overcome with coughing fits, his hand still clasped tightly around the hilt of his sword. Beside him, Kagome had removed the scarf of her uniform, and was using that to put pressure against the wound. Not that it mattered though. Even though it was diluted by the rain, The martial artist could still see the spreading pool of red lapping at his feet. The colour matched the stain on Ramna's shoulder, which darkened the scarlet of her shirt. The man turned girl looked at Inuyasha's face and saw tears streaming out of the half demon's golden, unfocused eyes. 

And then it hit her: 

Inuyasha was going to die. 

There were no hospitals, no surgeons, no antibiotics…hell, they didn't even have any proper doctors in this era, and the only medicine came from herbs. There was no way Inuyasha could survive a wound like that without professional help. And they were still days away from Kagome's "well". 

That icy feeling, the same one he'd experienced when he had first learned the Hiryuu Shoten Ha, seemed to slam into him with full force. Sure, Ranma had fought battles, but this was the first time he'd seen someone mortally wounded. In this battle, someone was going to die, and it would either be the potato guy, or them. 

The cold feeling built into an icy fire that raged over Ranma's soul. There was no way he, Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, was going to let this creep live. 

"Hey! Mr. Potato head! If you're so smart, let's see if you can think of a way to dodge this! TIGER BOMB!"

The blast knocked the unsuspecting tuber onto its back, where it proceeded to flail its arms like a turned over beetle. Ranma snatched up Miroku's staff and dove in for the kill!

"Saotome-anything-goes-school-of-martial-arts secret technique: The No-Fry-French-Fry-Slicer!" 

Turning the staff elbow over wrist, Ranma began using the blades at the end to slice expertly in a crisscross pattern all across the demon's stomach. He put enough wind pressure behind the strokes to cut through sheet metal, and ended with yet another ki blast to break the monstrosity to pieces. 

At least, that was what it was supposed to do. 

However, as Ranma landed, he was somewhat shocked to discover that not only was the demon still alive, it had managed to roll onto it's stomach again, and was now extending its spear like leg towards Ranma's heart. 

"Yow!" Ranma dropped the staff, rolled out of the way, and flipped to his feet. Barely dodging that attack, he landed only to find himself directly in the path of another attempt at his life, and then another, and then another. Soon, Ranma found himself on the retreat, sometimes cutting it too close, and being rewarded with a slice on the arm, a minor shoulder wound, and a small hole on his thigh. Ranma just couldn't figure it out. One look had confirmed that the thing was bleeding, or at least looked like it was bleeding. A watery white liquid was seeping from the cuts in its stomach. But the cuts only looked deep enough to be superficial. Ranma had thought he had put more than enough force to be lethal behind his blows, even in girl form. What was going on? 

Not only that, this thing seemed to have an unlimited number of limbs with unlimited length. What was with that? Whenever Ranma had though he'd counted and countered them all, suddenly there was one more. 

After taking another minor hit to her waist, Ranma realized that maybe she should get a weapon. Spying the forgotten staff, Ranma made a dive for it, only realizing his mistake too late. The demon had been waiting for the martial artist to go for the staff. This time the limb was too fast to dodge. 

"TETSUSAIGA!"

A flash of red crossed his vision, and the next thing Ranma knew, it was raining roots. Confused, but not stupid enough to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ranma leapt to his feet, only to find himself facing the back of…

"Inuyasha?!"

Th…this was crazy! There was no way the guy should be able to stand up, wounded as he was in his shoulders and torso! Let alone jump around weilding a gigantic sword! The guy had been impaled! As in all the way through!!

"I—Inuyasha!? What are you doing?"

"Keh! What does it look like I'm doing? I'm saving your weakling human ass! Now get off the battlefield before you get hurt even more!"

If there was one thing Ranma had never taken well, it was being called the "W" word.

"Oh and like you're one to talk, or does your belly button naturally extend out through your spine? If anyone should be out of here, its you! Gah!"

At that moment, Ranma and Inuyasha had both found it necessary to jump, avoiding another incoming attack from the angry potato. Landing, Ranma stumbled as pain shot through his wounded leg, but Inuyasha doubled over, clutching his stomach. The like this, half-demon wasn't fast enough to dodge the backlash, and was soon smacked directly into a tree. 

Kagome, "Inuyasha!"

"That's it hanyou," laughed the demon, "go run away and leave a woman to fight your battles. We all remember what happened back then don't we? Maybe this time, the girl will actually survive, unlike your poor mother, or your first love Kikyou. After all, what can a pathetic half breed like you hope to accomplish against a full-blooded demon. Hahahahaha!!" 

"Grrrr…Tiger Bomb!" That was just low. Ranma didn't know much about Inuyasha's past, but even he could tell that one struck a nerve. The attack, however, was ineffective, as the demon just "grounded" himself again with his root arms, and held on. Ranma noted the bleeding had lessened as well. Was this thing healing itself up??

"Bastard! DIEE!!" 

Inuyasha leapt up, ready to slice the youkai in half with Tetsusaiga. Grounded, the tuber demon was unable to dodge in time, and opted to attack instead, putting all its energy into spearing Inuyasha once again. The limb went straight and true, piercing clean through the lower right side of Inuyasha's chest. However, either Inuyasha was already in too much pain to notice, or was too angry to care he'd just been impaled again. He continued with his attack, bringing Tetsusaiga downwards with just enough force to slice the demon's face and head into two symmetrical parts. 

*~*~*~*~*

Ranma, now in his original form, sat with his back against the wall of the small wooden hut, looking out at the velvet night sky through the smoke hatch in the roof. After the battle, they'd had to walk for almost an hour before they found this place to shelter them from the continuing rain. Ranma's wounds had been throbbing like hell, and Miroku didn't look much better, toting Kagome's huge, oversized pack despite the deep wound in his arm. Kagome's bike had been pinned by a falling tree, and despite Inuyasha's protests that he was fine and could move the damn tree, Kagome had refused, insisting that it could wait until a later date. 

Ranma had to agree with Kagome there, for out of all of them, Inuyasha was wounded the worst. When they had finally reached the abandoned hut Shippo had found, the half demon was leaning heavily on Kagome's shoulder, unable to stand up and walk straight on his own. This in itself was a miracle to Ranma, as he had expected the Hanyou to be stone-cold dead. However, by now he had been filled in on the healing properties of demon bodies, as well as Inuyasha's extremely sensitive nose. Apparently, the only reason Inuyasha hadn't gotten up to fight right away after being impaled, was because an extremely foul blast of that nauseating gas had exploded directly in his face only moments before, stunning the hanyou for a good five minutes. This explained the coughing and the tears, at least, that's what Inuyasha argued. According to himself, Inuyasha had never actually cried in sorrow a day in his life. 

So now here they was, sitting in a small hut, built and used by merchants who frequented this road to do their trading. Ranma watched as the tiny flames leapt from the red coals of the small fire, and listened to the falling of rain outside. Everyone else had fallen asleep, Inuyasha lying down on his back, covered from abdomen to shoulders with white gauze. Kagome was dosing, curled into the corner at the half demon's head, and Miroku had taken up guard at the entrance to the hut, sleeping, staff in hand, with Shippo curled up in the tails of his robes at his side. 

Ranma had also propped himself up against a wall, unable to sleep just yet with all the thoughts running through his head. Absentmindedly he flexed his leg, testing the strength of the gauze wrapped around the wound there. Unlike Inuyasha, Ranma didn't have demonic healing powers, nor did he have his demonic strength or his speed. However, none of that seemed to matter at the moment, for despite all of his extra abilities, Inuyasha had almost died today. 

Unlike most of Ranma's battles, Inuyasha had not been fighting over a girl, or trying to learn a new technique, or to prove his strength against another. Today, Inuyasha had been fighting for his life and the life of his friends, a regular occurrence in the half demon's existence, if the attitudes of his companions were any indication. It made Ranma question his legitimacy as a martial artist. Sure, he may have spent his life devoted to the arts, but what did he use it for? Fighting with Ryoga, Kuno, Mousse, Happosai…suddenly, it all seemed so petty in the big picture.

And that was how Ranma felt at the moment, petty and small minded. Maybe that's why Akane was always calling him a jerk-

"Mn…nnng!…Sessho…bas-nk-tard…"

Ranma's head snapped up. Inuyasha was tossing in his sleep, mumbling death threats to various half-named people. For a moment, Ranma was unsure whether he should wake the injured boy, or just let him continue his restless sleep. Luckily, a third option presented itself shortly, as Kagome stirred, and awoke. 

"Inuyasha…" her face grew soft as she looked over at the struggling half demon. She shifted quietly, gently lifting Inuyasha's head and placing it in her lap. Caressing his cheek, she brought her other hand down in front of his nose, and let him inhale her scent. Ranma watched as the half demon quietly mumbled the girl's name before calming, and drifting into a deeper rest. Kagome continued to caress Inuyasha's face, palming the bangs from his eyes while reaching down to clasp one of his clawed hands in her own. Ranma coughed lightly, making his presence known. Kagome jumped slightly and then turned to him, a blush coloring her cheeks. 

"I'm sorry, did he wake you? He just gets these nightmares sometimes…" she whispered softly. 

Ranma shook his head, "I was awake all ready, just thinking…"

Kagome nodded with understanding. "I did a lot of that when I first got here too. It's because everything's so different…"

She paused with a sigh," It makes you realize just how lucky we really are, and don't even realize it. Before I met Inuyasha, my biggest worry was being able to get high marks in class so that I could get into a good high school. Now, I almost feel guilty every time I have to go home. It just seems selfish for me to be trying to continue on with my normal life, when everyone else's normal life has already been destroyed by the demon Naraku. But also, because of them, I want to continue with my normal life, and not take for granted something that I now realize is so prescious. I just hope that when this quest is over, we can all go back to some kind of happy, regular life. Especially Inuyasha, who never really had a normal life, because of what he is." 

Ranma just nodded, unsure of how to answer, and Kagome turned her focus back at the slumbering half demon. 

"It's amazing really, how strong he is. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too…"

Ranma looked up, realizing she was still talking about Inuyasha.

"I can't imagine how hard his life has been. Half human, half demon, but always hated by both sides. His own half brother has tried to kill him more than once. It's just amazing he didn't turn into some kind of horrible monster, or murderer, with everyone hating him. Any lesser person would have been overwhelmed by it, and let the hate consume their souls…"

"…but not Inuyasha. He's just too stubborn, the jerk." 

Ranma watched the girl chuckle to herself before turning back to look at the sleeping Hanyou, "He's a little calmer now, since we started looking for the shards, and a little more open too. He used to be such an obscene bully, always hiding everything behind an angry mask. He even tried to kill me the first time we met, and now he protects me with his life."

A sigh, "Inuyasha's the strongest person, I know. I just hope that it will be enough to get him through this quest alive..."

There was a long silence as Ranma stared at the girl, somewhat shocked. Inuyasha had tried to kill Kagome? Guess he had changed a lot. 

Ranma thought back to the night before, when Inuyasha had informed him that all the half demon's fighting moves were self-taught. If Inuyasha'd had Ranma's extensive training, then the guy would be unstoppable. Then Kagome's wish could come true…hmmm. Maybe that's what he would do. Ranma would train Inuyasha as his first student…zzzz

Kagome watched as Ranma's head finally slumped over in slumber, and heaved a sigh of relief. She hated it when she got this sentimental, but right now she couldn't help it. Inuyasha had been in so much pain today, with his wounds, and then the walking. It was at times like these that Kagome felt powerless to help him, and the guilt ate away at her heart. She tried to compensate for it by bandaging him up and comforting him whether he was asleep or awake, but it never seemed like enough. Absentmindedly she fingered the rosary around his neck. At times like this, she always swore to herself that she would never use it again to satisfy her own ire, and undoubtedly always ended up failing. 

Sighing, Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat and banished her thoughts before she started crying. Somehow, Inuyasha always knew when she'd let her tears fall, and he truly did seem to hate is when she cried. Instead she brought both her hands up to cushion the back of his head, raising it up just a little, as she leaned forward and planted yet another secret kiss upon his brow. Her words falling upon deaf ears for what seemed like the millionth time to the young Miko. 

"I love you, Inuyasha…"


End file.
